If you think of vocal jazz as a musical genre you'll certainly come up with numerous female jazz singers like Carmen Lundy, Dianne Reeves, Cassandra Wilson, Abbey Lincoln, Ledisi or Claudette Stone but it's hard to come up with the same number of male jazz vocalists.
So it's a very pleasant surprise to hear a singer like Buford Powers with his deep and silky voice.
The musical background of Too Good To Be True is provided by the classical quartet setting of piano (Jason Martineau), bass (Marcus Shelby), drums (Donald 'Duck' Bailey) and guitar (Calvin Keys). So the overall atmosphere is an intimate one that brings out the best of Buford.
The twelve songs on offer are all cover versions. Since Buford had chosen to record some less well-known songs and not the chestnuts we all know by heart, this works very well even for me who always has a preference for original compositions. But a crooner like Buford could sing the yellow pages and it would sound good.
Songs like Duke Ellington's Don't You Know I Care, Nuñez' Happening or Feller/Ward's I Just Dropped By To Say Hello create a perfect atmosphere for a nice evening with someone special, although I certainly would insist that Buford should sing and not just say hello if he really drops by.
The relaxed mood continues with songs like My One And Only Love, One For My Baby or A Sleepin' Bee and actually I could name each of the twelve songs, because they are all very good and sung with conviction by a singer who has "found jazz to be an expression of freedom, hope, and fulfillment that the world itself has embraced".
Too Good To Be True is a fine classical vocal jazz album that has this timeless quality so you can listen to it in ten years time and will enjoy it. But I advise you not to wait so long and get Buford's album soon.